Old guys of paceline, here's the question:

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by Hawker;2467735

[B

All things in moderation[/B].

Tend to your entire being; physical, mental, emotional and spiritual

Get enough sleep, at least seven hours of GOOD sleep.

Attitude goes a long way in dealing with things you can't change. You CAN change how you think.

Always save one gear.

Floss.

I knew I'd get old...I'm just surprised at how quickly I got here.

Never run when you can walk, never walk when you can ride.
Never stand when you can sit, never sit when you can lie down..
-Old Italian cyclists rules

"Getting old ain't for sissies"-Betty Davis
"Time is the fire in which we all burn"-Paul Newman

I get tired of people who are young and say stuff like, '70 is the new 40' or 'yer not getting older, yer getting better'..or 'with age comes wisdom' and that type of pablum..

I'm NOT a fan of getting older, the 2 above quotes apply 100% for me. I ride cuz I like it, as I've said before..it keeps me 'fit', but I do it cuz I like it...been running or riding since I was about 27(late bloomer)..68 in a few weeks..bah humbug...if I couldn't ride, I'd do something else...not surgically joined to bike..

[luglust]

i was fit in my 40's. life rearranged a lot of things and i slowly stopped riding. Now at 67 I'm starting at ground zero, very humbling. My hearts electrical system is a bit off, and lately after exercise (winter in Chicagoland, no riding for me) my blood pressure drops low and sometimes skips beats. The doctor sez not uncommon continue to exercise, adjusting blood pressure meds.

Life and age are big factors. when balance is off or out of ones control gotta go with the flow. Want to be able to ride 30 miles on any day i want. I still feel natural on a bike, like the peace n meditation aspect of riding.

Ill just do what Eddie sez...'.not how long or short, fast or slow, just make sure you ride.'

[soulspinner]

Originally Posted by HenryA

While I have a few minor things go wrong health wise from time to time, the doctors just shoo me away because none of them are typical old age problems. Apparently, an old, slightly fat cyclist fits in at the top of the charts when compared to Joe Public.

My back is a wreck, but well earned. Regular exercise (riding especially) and movement keeps it loose. And I can’t remember a ride where I didn’t come back happier and feeling better than when I left.

As best as I can tell, you can outride the grim reaper for quite some time. At least I hope so. He’s gonna have to catch me.

+1...Im not getting older, Im getting faster in my age group...

[luglust]

after thought... i don't have to subscribe to anything anymore i can do what i want. if i want to smoke cigars and drink bourbon i do. I would never do this when i was younger and fit. Anything can happen to anyone, fitness is no guarantee of long healthy life. But there's nothing wrong with pursuing it either. To each his own, not right and not wrong.

[joosttx]

only thing I find good about getting older is my capacity to love increases. Never would I guess I could love my wife more than I did when she agreed to marry me. Well, every year I fall more in love with her. Never knew I could love my children like I do. For me my capacity to love grows as I age. Everything else about getting old sucks.

[luglust]

joosttx...well said.

[thwart]

Originally Posted by luglust

I still feel natural on a bike...

Priceless.

In every way.

As you get older you can appreciate riding even more.

[seanile]

Originally Posted by luglust

My hearts electrical system is a bit off, and lately after exercise (winter in Chicagoland, no riding for me) my blood pressure drops low and sometimes skips beats. The doctor sez not uncommon continue to exercise, adjusting blood pressure meds.

I get palpitations too, make sure you’re well hydrated. The salt your body needs, which it sweats out, plays a big role in the conductivity of your heart’s circuits.

[luglust]

seanile....agree 100%. Dehydration/hydration is big deal. I never used to salt anything for blood pressure reasons. Now i use the stuff in moderation. As i got older i actually have to remind myself to drink more water.

[pdmtong]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

if I couldn't ride, I'd do something else...not surgically joined to bike..

^ yup this. love riding but plenty of other things to keep fit and sharp

[bironi]

I could suck old potatoe's wheel if it were true.
Pretty sure I could depend on that.
I'm surgically attached to the bike.
Arthritis and creaky joints since way back.
I loved hiking and other activities in years past.
But that is past.
What works for some doesn't for others.
Do what works.

[5oakterrace]

Originally Posted by MattTuck

Are you still in good shape because your ride? or are you still able to ride because you're in good shape?

Inspired by the Chief's, ummm, inspirational story of rolling his odometer, I have to know. I've seen a lot of folks over 65 or 70 that are not very physically fit, and certainly could not be riding a bicycle.

So, acknowledging the fact that you may not be able to separate cause and effect, I'd like to know which you attribute your continued ability to ride. genetic or other types of luck, or a life time of physical activity to build and maintain that fitness?

Determination, confidence, and work. In my mid 50s I could not bike up a mile long 6-8% average grade hill. There were some steeper pitches which stopped me. I tried four different times that summer. Not happening. I changed my eating (nothing with a face, no dairy, no oil, whole foods, basically Engine 2 plan) ramped up training from an easy does it 1-2k a year to around 4-6k a year. Lost 55 pounds, cholesterol plummeted. Next year, age 63, should by my fifth time up Mt. Washington. Granted I am real slow but for my age, and a Clydesdale at that (I am tall) - I am feeling mightily blessed I can even do it. I have the usual menu of physical issues (knee problems, back surgeries et al). My point - I think sometimes we underestimate what we may be capable of. I have no unusual genetic inheritance. My father had two heart attacks by my age, dead at 68. My mantra is - go when you can.

[MattTuck]

I didn't see this already posted in this thread, but may have missed it... NYT Article on Regular Exercise as you age

The muscles of older men and women who have exercised for decades are indistinguishable in many ways from those of healthy 25-year-olds, according to an uplifting new study of a group of active septuagenarians.

These men and women also had much higher aerobic capacities than most people their age, the study showed, making them biologically about 30 years younger than their chronological ages, the study’s authors concluded.

All of us are aging every second, of course, which leads many of us also to be deeply interested in what we can expect from our bodies and health as those seconds — and subsequent years and decades — mount.

Worryingly, statistics and simple observation suggest that many elderly people experience frailty, illness and dependence.

But science has not established whether and to what extent such physical decline is inevitable with age or if it is at least partially a byproduct of our modern lifestyles and perhaps amenable to change.

There have been hints, though, that physical activity might alter how we age. Recent studies have found that older athletes have healthier muscles, brains, immune systems and hearts than people of the same age who are sedentary.